


:3c anon

by sohnsonsun



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Johnny and Ten communicate via locker notes, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-10-03
Packaged: 2018-12-20 11:51:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11920308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sohnsonsun/pseuds/sohnsonsun
Summary: "cat paw face anon..." Ten mutters to no one in particular. He's not sure it's possible to be anonymous when these notes aren't posted to him online, but instead stuck on his locker with expensive Jinbe-san stationery.(Alternatively: Ten keeps getting these locker notes from an anonymous admirer, but as flattered as he is, his heart is already taken.)





	1. I'm staying up

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by [ these pictures of johnny, ](https://twitter.com/epistemology209/status/897431892533796864) and the fact that Johnny sleeps with two whale(?) plushies.  
> I don't know when I'll be able to finish this, but the first chapter can probably be read standalone
> 
> It's actually my very first time writing a fic, and I'd like to thank my irl who yelled until I did it
> 
> but agh I'm glad people find this as cute as I did

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp I used lyrics from Dream In a Dream for chapter titles even though I only plan to have 2 chapters 1 epilogue

For Ten, it starts with a note. 

 

_hello, hope you have a good day today! I just wanted to tell you that your new earrings look really good on you ;)_

Ten's kind of shocked, yet extremely flattered. He had spent a whole hour in the mall a few days ago, debating on whether these earrings were "too flamboyant" for school, and it had taken Yuta another hour just to convince Ten that, yes, you look super cute, and yes, it's fine to wear more than 5 piercings in school, **_stop worrying!_ ** Nevertheless, he was happy to receive a compliment on such a minute detail just a day after the Monday he started wearing it.

 

After a few seconds, the shock and flattery turns to embarrassment as the people around him began to stare. Whoever this secret admirer was, they were definitely shameless as _fuck_ . The note was written on _Jinbe-san_ paper, with the cutest, most flowery handwriting possible.

 

“Wow, that’s some expensive paper. Girl must be cute. That is, I’m assuming it’s a girl. Write a reply?” Yuta’s low whisper jolts Ten out of his shocked state, and Ten smacks him out of fright and guilt.

 

“What do I say to such a cute, innocent girl? Thank you, but I’m gay as fuck for Johnny Seo?”

 

Ten really, really hopes no one heard his panicked whisper but Yuta only laughs at his misery.

 

Well, shit.

 

Ten leaves the note on the locker with no reply, but folds it neatly so as to let her know he’d read it, as well as save her from embarrassment. What kind of reply would he write to a nameless girl who wants to start a conversation via _Jinbe-san_ notes? He just doesn’t know what else to do, other than hope the girl isn’t really interested and stops the weird form of correspondence or gets his number somehow. Instead, he decides to focus on what Yuta's previously referred to as Ten’s “daily coffee”: Johnny’s arrival.

 

Johnny’s a year above him, shares no classes with him, has never talked to him, and yet Ten can’t help but stare at him secretly. Johnny’s such a beautiful human, Ten muses. On days where school is less tiring, Johnny shows up dressed to impress, with clothes that probably cost more than Ten’s weekly allowance _per piece_ . On dreary days, Johnny’s long brown hair is cutely messed up, soft brown eyes barely open, along with sweater paws that should be illegal. (Ten loves both Johnnys, but if he had to choose, he’d pick soft, sleepy Johnny any day.) Beyond his perfect looks and multitude of friends, Johnny still remains the most down-to-earth person Ten’s ever seen. He constantly encourages his friends and boosts their self-esteem, but can’t take a compliment, kind word or confession from anyone without looking like he’d spontaneously combust. Not like Ten’s seen it on purpose. He’d just accidentally seen Johnny receiving a confession from a girl in her year on Valentine's’ Day, at 5.38 pm near Biology Lab 2.

 

If he could, Ten would make a shrine just for that one moment. Just for that image of a flustered, red-faced Johnny Seo admitting, “I’m so sorry, I really appreciate the gifts and all of _this,_ I just… have someone else in mind.”

 

That’s why seeing Johnny every morning gives him happiness: Johnny often looks different every day, yet always remained the same: cute eye smile, almost cat-like features and a heart that revealed a gentle giant behind the handsome face he was blessed with. Who else would go out of their way to help new students find their way around, to carry art projects and hold the door for his whole class? Only Johnny, kind and gentle Johnny.

 

It’s also the reason why his heart plummets with remorse and guilt every morning for the whole week. How could Ten just tell her he wasn’t interested? Wednesday’s note read “ _did someone take the note? I really hope you’re reading these, or this is embarrassing.”_

 

On Thursday, Ten fakes sick out of sheer determination to avoid thinking about his anonymous admirer and her(?) daring notes. It was almost as if the cute whale shark on the papers were mocking him for being in this horrible predicament. However, it became evident by Friday that “ _Jinbe-san_ girl”, named by Yuta himself, was clearly interested, and clearly waiting for a reply.

 

Today’s note was “ _Ten, please reply! I noticed you were sick yesterday, and you haven’t replied to any of these_ _˚‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )‧º·˚”_

 

Ten resigns to his fate, and takes out a blue pen to scrawl out a reply. He thinks Yuta might be proud of him, finally writing back to Jinbe-san girl.

 

However, Yuta says, “So, you finally write a reply, and you’re doing because you got guilt-tripped by a crying kaomoji?” It contains less pride and more pity. However, when Ten turns to look at Yuta, he’s smiling, eerily similar to the faces made by the whale shark on the papers.

 

“Yep.” Ten pops the ‘p’, figuring he’d might as well be proud of his weak heart for succumbing to the charms of Jinbe-san girl. Yuta simply snickers, having seen through the act.

 

**I’m so sorry I never replied, I never got a name to call you by and didn’t know where to reply, so I hope this is ok! Thank you for the compliments on my earrings, I didn’t think anyone would notice such a small thing :)**

 

The next morning, the cute paper is folded neatly and stuck to his locker with washi tape, yet again.

 

_uwah I didn’t mean to scare you off by coming on strong! Keep replying on this paper, it’s more than okay._

 

__:3c anon_ _

 

"cat paw face anon..." Ten mutters to no one in particular. He's not sure it's possible to be anonymous when these notes aren't posted to him online, but instead stuck on his locker with expensive _Jinbe-san_ stationery. He hopes fate will be good to him when he eventually rejects this girl’s advances, and writes his reply.

* * *

Over the course of the next two weeks, Ten and :3c fall into a routine. Just before Johnny’s morning trudge to the classrooms, Ten picks up a note with :3c’s new reply and writes a response. They miraculously become as close as crush and secret admirer could be, just through the notes on Ten’s locker, and their concise, yet drawn-out conversations often span several topics, and Ten’s highlight of the month goes to a knock-knock joke lasting an entirety of three days.

 

_Knock-knock._

**Who’s there?**

_Who_

**Who who?**

_I didn’t know you liked owls._

 

When Ten bursts out laughing, both Yuta and his boyfriend Si Cheng are dumbfounded until they read the note. It’s a bad joke, but the fact that :3c tried to tell a joke in a conversation happening at the speed of one line per day is both pathetic and hilarious at the same time.

 

Ten eventually works up the courage to ask :3c how their notes are anonymous, and the brief conversation lasts another three days.

 

**By the way, how do you remain anonymous even when this isn’t online? What if the people around begin to read these?**

_Well, I do put in quite a bit of effort to keep my identity secret. As for any fellow schoolmates reading these, I’ve noticed no one but you unfolds the notes to read. The paper never has any extra creases which would have been made by anyone else reading these._

**That’s some surprisingly insightful CSI stuff right there, but how exactly are you getting these notes to me without anyone seeing you?**

_Well, that’s for me to know and hopefully, for no one else to find out. Anyway, please stay healthy! There’s a flu bug going around and I wouldn’t want you to catch it. Stay healthy!_

 

Well, it’s not like Ten expected an answer, but the replies are still worrying. Ten had been trying to establish a friendship and was hoping that :3c anon had forgotten about their obvious crush on him, but it was still alive and kicking. The image of a cockroach comes to mind.

 

Oh well, whatever. Ten assumes he can probably push it to “close friends” with :3c anon, just for a little bit longer, until he’ll have to tell this girl that he, in the words of Johnny Seo, has “someone else in mind.” He hopes the time never comes, and continues writing a reply.

 

“Ten, are you smiling? Have you finally dropped Johnny Seo for a random anonymous girl giving you letters every day? Are you sick? Who are you, and what have you done to my dear Chittaphon?”

 

After playfully smacking Yuta once again, Ten realises Yuta has a point. The anonymous letters have become a bright spot in his monotonous school life, and he almost has a heart attack when he realises he actually _looks forward_ to these letters from :3c anon, whoever she is. It’s a welcome addition to his daily routine, reading :3c anon’s notes before sleepy morning Johnny roams the hallways in search of his first class. To his horror and delight, Ten’s daily happiness dose has become a daily double dose of happiness. Maybe he appreciates the care and concern directed to him by a complete stranger? Or does he-

 

No. That can’t be.

 

Ten takes out his phone and googles “can you have a crush on more than one person at a time” before he can stop himself, and when he looks up, he’s greeted by Yuta with a pained and constipated expression. Before he can ask why, Yuta offers an explanation:

 

“Ten, you just missed Johnny’s morning walk.”

 

Ten’s expression mirrors Yuta’s for the rest of the uneventful day.

At the end of the week, it seemed like the worst possible thing had happened.

 

_uhm, I may have something to tell you. Is there any place we could meet up? (////)_

 

To Ten, this is worse than the time Yuta dragged him to see Annabelle: Creation as a third wheel to him and Si Cheng. Sure, he definitely had nightmares after Annabelle, but at least the nightmares wore off after a while. This is real life, where a mistake at this point would cause his life to be plagued with the regret of breaking someone's heart. Ten doesn’t think he’ll have the heart to do so.

 

He can hear Yuta’s voice telling him to just go ahead and use the opportunity to tell her the truth at the back of his conscious. Even alone, Yuta terrorises him. (Ten’s panicked brain begins to wonder if he'll ever escape this hell. )

 

So he writes down the best answer he can come up with.

 

**Sure. Why don't we get coffee tomorrow at the Starbucks near school? I'll meet you at the corner table at 10 :)**

 

He hopes this won't be a mistake.

* * *

 

Ten wakes up at 10, and promptly has a pseudo-heart attack in the middle of his bedroom. What if she thinks he's stood her up, and left? 

 

Despite all that, the Starbucks looks completely fine when he arrives a whole 20 minutes late. No crying girl, no commotion whatsoever. Until he buys a drink and heads to the corner table. 

 

 _Johnny's sitting there._ Johnny looks tired yet nervous, sitting alone with his large coffee and one of his giant-sized sweaters. He almost looks as if his coffee holds the answers to any mysteries of life out there, and Ten wants to smooth out his hair and ask him what's wrong like a mother would.

 

But it's Johnny, not Ten's expected image of a flustered girl, and Ten knows what that means. The girl has probably left, and Ten's broken his first heart ever. Somehow, he feels like a murderer with all the guilt washing over him.

 

In a panic, he rushes over to Johnny with a hurried "oh my god have you seen someone waiting here for me since around 10 I'm supposed to meet them and I'm late I'm late-" on the tip of his tongue. Before he can do that, Johnny shyly smiles at him, pulls out a small, white envelope, and tells him to open it and read it. And Ten takes it, too anxious over :3c to feel happiness and excitement over an interaction with Johnny Seo. 

 

Inside the innocent, white envelope is a familiar-looking cream-and-blue  _Jinbe-san_ paper. Ten can't believe his eyes when he sees the words inside. It's the first ever :3c note, but something's been added to it.

 

_hello, hope you have a good day today! I just wanted to tell you that your new earrings look really good on you ;)_

_Johnny_

Ten's train of thought completely details from the shock. All the time he had spent, worrying about rejecting his admirer, wasted. Just because his admirer and his crush were the exact same person. The revelation itself is too good to be true, and Ten spends the next minute alternating between staring blankly at Johnny, and looking into the plastic plants for a prank camera. 

 

Johnny ends up clearing his throat awkwardly to bring Ten's attention back to Earth, and softly says, "so, uhm-"

 

He doesn't have the time to finish whatever he wanted to say, as Ten rushes to hug him without thinking, leaving Johnny with his long, muscular arms clamped to his side. In his rollercoaster of emotions, Ten mumbles all his thoughts into Johnny's shoulder without realising it.

 

"ohmygod I thought it was a girl who liked me and I thought I was going to have to tell her I was gay as fuck for Johnny Seo and have to deal with crying and I was so prepared to feel terrible for the next century but it's you it's you I'd never think it was you and how could you do this to me I felt so bad talking to a girl I didn't like how did you do it why would it be me-"

 

Ten realises he's just gotten himself into a terribly awkward situation, but can't bear to show his face to Johnny after _all this_ , so he decides he'll use Johnny's chest and arms (which have slowly wiggled out to fully embrace Ten as well) and bury himself in it. He feels Johnny laugh, a warm rumble heating his face and chest. Ten wonders how pathetic he looks, to have Johnny laugh at him.

 

All of a sudden, Johnny pulls Ten out of the hug and holds him by the shoulders. 

 

"So, go out with me?"

"Of course, cat paw face anon."

 

This time, it's Johnny's train of thought which completely derails.


	2. I don't wanna come down from your love

For Johnny, it starts with a smile.   
  
It's not even aimed at him, nor is it a genuine one. The unnamed boy is probably acting cute just to copy his friends' homework or something, but it _ works _ . Just- the addictive, infectious smile in contrast to the hot and serious face it changes to moments later, piercings glinting in the light from dingy school lamps. Johnny jokingly wonders if he saw the exact same person, or if it was two different ones.    
  
Both sides of this unnamed underclassman has caught Johnnys' attention, and he doesn't know whether the guy even likes guys. Either way, he wants to know more, get close to whoever this cute underclassman is. 

 

After a week of asking around (by around, he means Jaehyun and Taeyong), he finds out that the younger, shorter boy’s name is Ten, but doesn't know anything other than that. Apparently, Ten’s the type to be friendly with anyone he meets, but only  _ really  _ interacts with his close circle of friends. 

 

Johnny finds that disappointing. He kind of wants to take Ten and parade him around the school, telling people to appreciate Ten’s beauty. Every glimpse of Ten reveals something new without fail. The best example that comes to mind is probably the day Ten shows up with just a hint of eyeliner. Johnny imagines that day as the final demon hand that dragged him into the endless pit called “Ten Hell”. 

 

Unfortunately, Jaehyun and Taeyong have pointed it out to him that he can’t possibly go after Ten. Johnny, being the son of rich, good-looking parents, also happens to be rich and good-looking and thus has a mini fanclub (and as much as he argues  _ it’s not a fanclub!  _ whenever it’s brought up, Johnny does concede that he does, in fact, have a fanclub.) They’re also pretty sure that this fanclub is obsessed over the apparent romantic availability of Johnny, and take it as a challenge/war to win over Johnny’s heart, which has resulted in minor bullying and harassment. However, school management never does anything about it. Johnny’s heart wouldn’t be able to handle Ten receiving such harsh treatment as well, so he decides to keep his distance.

 

Two weeks into ignoring his heart, Johnny can’t take it anymore, and neither can Taeyong or Jaehyun. The next time Johnny settles down for lunch while complaining about how “Ten’s face is so pretty and cute I wanna make sure he knows how cute he is”, they finally decide to get him to stop pining.

 

“Johnny, why don’t you just go talk to Ten or something?” 

Taeyong’s seconded by Jaehyun, who tells him that “even if you’re afraid your scary fanclub might kill him, you could pass him notes or something. Something anonymous.”

“I guess he could do locker notes, but I don’t know how he’s gonna be able to do that and keep coming to school normally, while remaining anonymous. People will know something’s up if Johnny stops arriving at his regular time.” Taeyong says, and he’s right. Johnny’s never alone from the moment he reaches school till the time he leaves the dreaded hellhole, and he wonders how he’s going to do it. It’s a feasible plan, as long as he can work through the tiny obstacle of his unwanted popularity.

 

Johnny sighs inwardly. He just wanted to go through school as invisible and underappreciated as Ten does, and wonders what it’s like to be Ten, who can wander the halls with his pretty Japanese friend without being crowded, can open his locker on Valentine's’ Day without all his books and various heavy chocolates falling on his feet, and  _ definitely  _ doesn’t have to deal with the guilt that comes with almost telling an underclassmen that he’s already got an eye on another guy. On that fateful day, Johnny considered himself lucky to have changed the word “Ten” for the rather vague “someone else”. 

The opportunity for his weird plan comes through at a regular family dinner, where Johnny’s reminded of an upcoming long business trip. His mom suddenly says: “Johnny, we leave for the Korea trip tonight, and we’ll be away for two months. Are you sure you’re okay with taking care of yourself for two months? We trust you, you definitely won’t throw parties right?”

 

When Johnny nods, he’s extremely pleased to see the pride on his mother’s face when he instead asks if they’ll be okay on such a late-night flight. Although the Seo family business had a major breakthrough and became successful when he was in middle school, Johnny never flaunted it or showed off, and instead chose to adapt well to the new life. Except maybe the increase in girls following him around, asking him about his day while wearing what could possibly the smallest clothes possible. Sometimes, it makes him uncomfortable. They probably just want his money, so he always tells them he’s not interested.

 

“We’ll be leaving you with enough money for the time we’re gone, and if you’re short on cash you can just text us, Johnny. We’ve hired a driver to pick you up for school at 7 every day, and I’m sure you’ll be good.” His father finishes up with ruffling Johnny’s hair. 

 

After dinner, Johnny goes to his room and almost dies from excitement. He completely forgot about that. When he tells his two best friends on their groupchat, neither of them are surprised, but they’re still disappointed that Johnny would forget such a thing. What a stupid boy. 

 

Nevertheless, an opportunity is an opportunity, and Johnny’s going to take it. Thus, Johnny formulates a plan to  _ talk to the cute boy without being seen.  _ Unfortunately, neither Johnny, Jaehyun nor Taeyong can find a good name for the mission. How do you succinctly name a mission like that with one word? 

 

First, Johnny decides to write his note, and spends the good part of an hour digging out the free  _ Jinbe-san  _ notepad that came with the soft whale shark plushie sitting on his bed. It’s horrendously cute, but Johnny makes an exception, imagining the bright smile on Ten’s face when he sees the note. 

 

He decides on a simple compliment to Johnny’s latest form of death: Ten’s new piercing. It probably wasn’t new per se, but had never been worn in school. The barbell in Ten’s conch piercing was killing him, and Ten absolutely needed to know he was killing people.

 

Then, he sets an alarm for 4.30am, giving him enough time to make a run to school and paste the cringey note on Ten’s locker before he has to rush back, take a power nap and get ready for school. He labels it “Ass A.M. for Ten” and promptly goes to bed. 

The next morning, Johnny surprisingly manages to wake up to “Ass A.M. for Ten”, and the name is unsurprisingly accurate. Johnny feels like shit, but gets dressed, grabs the note and tape and runs out of the empty house. 

 

When Johnny finishes the 20 minute bike to school, he’s exhausted, but feels a strange, almost idiotic pride in doing so much just for Ten. At least it isn’t in vain. The school doors are unlocked, and Johnny folds the note into quarters, tapes it securely to Ten’s locker, and leaves.

 

(The poor driver picks up a tall, muscular boy with a giant flask of coffee in his hands hours later, and isn’t sure if the young’un knows his own name.)

 

At the end of the day, Johnny returns to Ten’s locker and removes the note, disappointed to see that it’s been unfolded, folded back, and taped back to the front of his locker with no reply. That’s okay, Johnny thinks. Maybe Ten’s a shy one, and might take some time to be coaxed into a reply. Johnny decides to give it until Friday, and then give up.

 

When Friday comes, the note is saturated with kaomojis and sweetness out of Johnny’s fatigue and desperation for  _ one reply, any reply, anything. _ On the same  _ Jinbe-san  _ paper, it reads: 

 

_ Ten, please reply! I noticed you were sick yesterday, and you haven’t replied to any of these ˚‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )‧º·˚ _

 

At the end of the day, Johnny’s prepared to just say  _ fuck it _ and give up, but there’s a reply,  _ he replied _ , and suddenly it’s all worth it.

 

**I’m so sorry I never replied, I never got a name to call you by and didn’t know where to reply, so I hope this is ok! Thank you for the compliments on my earrings, I didn’t think anyone would notice such a small thing :)**

 

Thank goodness there’s no one home to judge Johnny for coming back red-faced, with his face buried in his hands half the time. 

 

As to solve Ten’s issue with names, Johnny decides to give himself an anonymous name, and names himself after a kaomoji that Jaehyun insists looks like him. He signs off as “:3c anon”, and has to stick with it despite the embarrassment.

 

It’s worth it, though, when he walks past Ten in the hallways and he’s somehow imitating the  _ exact same face _ to his Japanese friend, who’s sank to his knees laughing, arms clutching his stomach. Johnny relates, except he'd be clutching his heart. 

Little by little, Johnny and Ten fall into a routine. Johnny wakes up to a deathly 4.30 alarm, goes to school to deliver the day’s note, arrives home, goes to school a second time, and picks the note up after he’s done with lessons and the hallways are empty. Ten slowly lets his personality shine through the notes, and Johnny’s adoration for him grows little by little with every reply picked up at the end of the day. 

 

However, it’s nearing the end of the Seo family business trip, and Johnny doesn’t think he can keep up with the notes for much longer. On the Friday of Johnny’s last week as a free boy, he decides to take the plunge and reveal his identity to Ten, face to face. He words it like a shy, flustered schoolgirl asking to meet her crush on the rooftop after school, just like the scenes from cheesy mangas. Taeyong reads the note over his shoulder and cringes so hard he cramps a muscle in his neck.

 

_ uhm, I may have something to tell you. Is there any place we could meet up? (////) _

 

The reply at the end of the day sounds hopeful, thank god. Johnny’s been worrying about this the whole day, to the point that several classmates have asked him if he needs to go to the sick bay, and Johnny thinks the reply is probably too good to be true. Ten asks to meet at Starbucks at 10, and Johnny can’t complain. He does need the coffee after two whole months of waking up at 4.30 to pass notes to Ten.

 

Later that night, Johnny slides out the bottommost envelope in a small stack of identical white envelopes, removes the letter inside, and in the midst of cooing at the little whale shark in the corner, he signs off with his real name.

Johnny arrives at Starbucks at 9.45, and undeniably feels like shit. Like any sleep-deprived student would do, he buys the biggest iced latte he can get and sits at the corner table as directed by Ten. And waits.

 

And waits.

 

And waits. 

 

At 10, Ten’s (ironically) not there. Johnny assumes he’s late, but still has that sinking feeling. If Ten’s stood him up, all his hard work would have gone to shit. 

 

After twenty minutes of waiting, Johnny’s almost given up. His coffee is finished, sitting on top of the first note that was ever passed to Ten, and he's come to terms with the fact that Ten will never know it's him, will never know of Johnny’s affection, and that's okay, that's fine-

 

Suddenly, the tiny golden bell in the overpriced coffee shop jingles. In fact, it jingles quite intensely as Ten rushes in, hair slightly damp from what Johnny assumes is a shower. He looks so startled and  _ afraid  _ of the place, but to Johnny he looks a bit more like a small kitten who's suddenly smelt something off. As expected, Ten speed walks to Johnny’s corner table, and begins to ramble before Johnny can even begin to process what he's saying. 

 

“-have you seen someone waiting here for me since around 10-”

 

_ It's me,  _ Johnny thinks.  _ That's me.  _

 

With that, Johnny turns and pulls out the envelope from under the cup. There's a small circle where condensation has dripped onto the paper and dried, leaving the word “Ten” in the middle of the cup’s water mark. Nevertheless, he takes the envelope in both hands and presents it to Ten. 

 

Johnny watches as Ten smiles upon seeing the Jinbe-san note paper, and almost laughs at Ten’s shocked face when he sees Johnny’s signature put a real name behind the anonymous person he’d been conversing with for the past two months. Then, Ten spends what seems like an eternity not saying anything. However, his eyes dart around the room and inspect its every corner, all while staying comically still. 

 

Johnny figures he should probably say something in this awkward moment, and clears his throat, but Ten roughly wrestles him into a hug before he can even raise his hands. All of the air leaves Johnny’s lungs from the force, and he hopes Ten can't feel his heart beating because his face is so, so near his weak heart. 

 

And then, he hears this rumble of Ten muttering right into his chest, and decides (for what feels like the n th time) that this boy is too cute, and Johnny’s heart begins to yearn to hug him. 

 

So he does. 

 

It’s with difficulty, but Johnny still manages to wriggle his arms free and pull Ten’s flushed face deeper into his chest, and the warm, happy feeling he’s blessed with causes him to laugh with disbelief that  _ oh my god, this is real, this is my life now. _

 

Just to make sure, Johnny decides to ask if this whole thing isn’t a strange fever dream, and reluctantly pulls Ten away to ask: “So, go out with me?”

 

When Ten says, “Sure, cat paw face anon”, and pairs it with an imitation of the face, Johnny stops breathing for a few seconds, as he remembers all the embarrassing things he said to pose as a cute girl, his 4.30 a.m. alarms, and realises that he can’t run from the stupid shit he’s said, now that Ten’s with him. Ten will never let the stupid kaomojis and the Jinbe-san notes go, and will haunt him for life.

 

Even so, as Johnny looks back at Ten’s blissed-out smile, white envelope clutched daintily between his thumb and index, he thinks about the endless possibilities ahead of them and decides, this? All this? It’s all worth it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally finished! I still have an epilogue planned and shit, but I didn't expect to get 900+ reads. Thank you for reading *^*
> 
> if ya want, come yell at me on [ twitter ](https://twitter.com/sohnsonsun) or on [ cc ](https://curiouscat.me/sohnsunson)
> 
> you can also dm me if you want a preview of the epilogue, I'll be more than happy to let you view the 1 sentence I probably wrote (if I'm working on it lol)


	3. We'll get lost together (epilogue)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Ten finds out exactly how Johnny did all this

Johnny waits for Ten outside his Chemistry classroom, and smiles when their eyes suddenly meet through the small window at the door. Just as quickly, Ten’s attention is stolen away by Mr Lee’s booming voice, which threatens to “throw you guys into the dungeon and lock you inside if you don’t do the practice paper!” 

 

Johnny laughs along with the class inside. He’s heard that many times already. Class is dismissed, and Johnny waits as Ten meticulously packs his stuff, before slinging on his bag and walking out to meet his boyfriend. 

 

The word “boyfriend” resonates in Johnny’s head. He doesn’t think he’ll ever get sick of that. 

 

“Hey.”

“Hey yourself. Ready to go?”

“Hell yeah, I wanna see how big your house is.”

 

The walk back to Johnny’s house is silent, save for a few remarks about how much homework either of them have to do before they could actually have fun. 

 

Ten’s honestly surprised that Johnny’s parents could be so  _ okay  _ with this, and just accept the fact that Johnny now has a boyfriend. He’s thankful for the reassuring smile from Johnny’s mom, and the magnificent lunch prepared for them after a long day at school. 

 

After two whole hours of doing homework, Ten begins to yawn, tired out by the excitement from the new environment as well as the mental exhaustion of a school day.

 

Hearing this, Johnny suggests “why don’t we take a nap?”

 

Ten’s reply is less than satisfactory. “I still have some more shit to do though…” He whines out. 

 

“Just half an hour. We can set an alarm and then cuddle.”

 

With that, Ten finally gives in, too enamoured with the prospects of a nap in Johnny’s bed, Johnny’s arms, and settles down on the bed to cuddle. 

 

Johnny’s bed is huge, not surprising since Johnny's so tall, but mostly taken up by two  _ Jinbe-san  _ ply shoes of different sizes. Ten coos at the way his hands sink into the fluffy plushies, and smiles upon seeing how old and well-loved they are. 

 

When Johnny lays down facing him, Ten’s grateful for how  _ big  _ Johnny is. Johnny curls up to fit himself on the bed, and there’s still space for Ten on the bed, this entire expanse of space where Johnny’s warmth radiates from him. Ten latches his arms onto his chest like a koala, determined to have all the warmth to himself. 

Suddenly, Ten realises that neither of them set an alarm, and mumbles out “Johnny, the alarm…” 

 

Johnny, that sloth, asks him to do it himself. Ten turns over and sees Johnny’s phone on the bedside table, his own phone on the study table, and grabs Johnny’s phone since he doesn’t want to leave Johnny’s warm bed. Johnny’s half asleep already, so Ten lifts his hand by the wrist, and maneuvers Johnny’s thumb over the home button to unlock his phone.

 

Ten opens Johnny’s alarms to find the most intriguing sight.

 

“Johnny, what’s this? Why do you have a…”

 

Johnny looks up from the crook of Ten’s neck, and  _ freezes.  _ He’d forgotten that to turn an alarm off, Ten had to go to the Clock app, and actually go to “Alarms”. And that he’d been too lazy to delete “Ass A.M. for Ten”. There it sat, at the top of his alarms list, albeit in grey, not white like it had been for the two months before they had gotten together.

 

“It’s a four-thirty alarm, just for me? Why?”

 

“Well, how’d you think I got those notes to you but still arrived after you?”

 

When Ten responds with stunned silence, Johnny decides to continue.

 

“I woke up at that time to rush to school, post the notes, come back, and take a nap before heading to school so my gross fanclub didn’t sense anything off.” He spoke of it like it was nothing, as if he hadn’t just fucked up his entire sleep cycle in order to talk to Ten.

 

Ten gently slaps Johnny’s arm, and the sound resonates.

 

“Why would you fuck with yourself just for me? What’s wrong with you? Why would you do something like this?” 

 

Johnny simply laughs, until there’s a pause in Ten’s not-so-painful slaps, and when the slapping resumes, he realises the hand slapping him is a bit wet. Ten’s laughing, and it sounds so  _ wet _ , crying and laughing at the same time, while he sniffles and tells him “never to do that again, you crazy piece of shit!”

 

Johnny ignores the voice crack, and simply accepts his fate as Ten’s punching bag for the next few minutes. Eventually, Ten decides to let the both of them sleep, and whispers a soft “thank you, baby” to Johnny before closing his eyes again.

 

Later, when they fall asleep, the pillow’s damp from Ten’s drying tears, yet the smile on Ten’s face makes Johnny want to stay like this forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this fic is done!!

**Author's Note:**

> I gave Johnny that anon name just because sometimes his smile looks like that and I die a little every time
> 
> I did the plot summary when I was tired af and [ its a real weird one read it if ya want](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1y8gv4MoR9yTkBJta_DNlhw2WKhwJiQPluKj-31I3TI4/edit?usp=sharing)  
> this is my first fic and it somehow had to be a ship that hasn't been let out of sm basement in 12 years, and set in an environment I'm unfamiliar with, so I apologise if any one of them is ooc
> 
> yell at me on [ twitter ](https://twitter.com/sohnsonsun)


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